All Shook Up – the Earthquake HEAD Trip

The San Andreas Fault runs for 750 miles from the Salton Sea in Southern California to Cape Mendocino on the North Coast. Geologists classify it as a right-lateral strike-slip transform fault. If you’re having trouble remembering your physical science classes     (I sure do), let’s look at it from another angle. It’s a boundary between tectonic plates. The North American and the Pacific plates grind into each other along the San Andreas. The North American plate is moving, slowly, south as the Pacific plate slides north. Clear as mud? In an average year, the San Andreas moves 20-35mm (0.79-1.38”). The fault was defined in 1895.

On the morning of Wednesday, April 18, 1906, 5:12am to be exact, a foreshock was widely felt across the Bay Area. About 20 seconds later, all hell broke loose. The shaking lasted for nearly a minute (42-45 seconds). By comparison, the shaking caused by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake lasted 15 seconds. High intensity shaking was felt from the Salinas Valley up to Eureka. The earthquake itself was felt from Los Angeles up to Southern Oregon and inland to Central Nevada.

The fault ruptured for an unprecedented 296 miles – from San Juan Bautista to Cape Mendocino. The small Marin County town of Olema experienced 20 feet of surface displacement. The quake’s epicenter was just outside the Golden Gate, about 2 miles south. The magnitude has been estimated at between 7.8 and 8.3 (Loma Prieta: 6.9). The strength varies because the Richter Scale wasn’t created until 1935.

At the time, besides being the busiest port on the Pacific coast, San Francisco was also the business, trade, and cultural center of the Western U.S. The city was a collection of unreinforced brick buildings and tightly packed wooden structures. Hundreds of masonry buildings collapsed, and wooden houses crumbled while water and gas mains twisted and broke.

As the morning progressed, San Franciscans started to pick up the pieces. The quake’s damage was massive, but nothing compared to what happened next, the fire! Dozens of small blazes, started by fallen lanterns or cooking fires and fueled by leaking gas broke out across the city. One of the first was the “Ham and Eggs Fire” in Hayes Valley, near the intersection of Hayes and Gough Streets. Someone lit a stove to prepare breakfast (Ham & eggs?). Thanks to a badly damaged chimney, the resulting inferno destroyed 30 city blocks, including the new city hall.

As many as 30 large fires began to coalesce into three firestorms. Without water to quench the blazes, (Remember those broken water lines?) the mayor turned to the U.S. Army for dynamite. Firefighters used explosives to demolish whole city blocks in the hope of creating fire breaks. Untrained in the use of dynamite, the fire department created many new fires. Eventually the Army took over the detonations. Fun fact: the explosives used were manufactured across the bay at the California Powder Works in Hercules.

Over the next 3 days and nights, fires raged across the city consuming everything in sight. Flames could swallow a city block in 30 minutes. Smoke billowed a mile high as temperatures reached 2,700°F. Firefighting efforts turned to creating fire paths, sacrificing one block to save another. On the third day, the wind shifted, blowing the fire back upon itself.

As the smoke began to clear, 80% of the city was laid waste, 25,000 buildings across nearly 500 blocks were gone. More than 3,000 people had died. It’s hard to come up with a firm number since deaths in Chinatown were ignored. The cost of this disaster, in today’s dollars, reached nearly $9 billion. The human losses make this California’s largest single catastrophe. Most of the deaths were in San Francisco, but the earthquake also killed 189 people across the region – from Santa Rosa to San Jose.

As if things weren’t bad enough, over half the city’s population was homeless. The Army was tasked with feeding, clothing, and providing shelter for 250,000 people. Initially, 21 large tent camps were established in city parks (including Golden Gate and Dolores), the Presidio and really any open space. Tents worked on a temporary basis but as summer was turning to fall, a better solution was needed before winter’s arrival. Major General Adolphus Greely solved the problem using his experience building arctic shelters. He joined forces with parks superintendent John McLaren to design earthquake shacks. San Francisco’s first tiny homes were around 200 square feet. Union carpenters built 500 shacks using redwood, cedar, and fir. Many shacks were painted “Navy blue” since the military had lots of that particular paint on hand.

Through this whole period, 4,000 military servicemembers participated in efforts to prevent crime, including looting, and aide recovery efforts. Soldiers guarded the U.S Mint, post offices, and the county jail. Mayor Schmitz even issued a “shoot to kill” order allowing soldiers, regular and special police officers to shoot looters or “anyone in the commission of any other crime”.

Recovery and rebuilding efforts began immediately. Millions of dollars flowed into San Francisco from the federal government and around the world. Fundraisers were held in London and Canada. Andrew Carnegie sent $100,000 ($3.4 million today). On April 19, the New York Highlanders (Yankees) and the Philadelphia Athletics played a benefit game to raise money for the effort.

Worried that if the full impact of the disaster were widely known it could negatively impact business prospects, civic leaders downplayed the damage. The “official” death toll was reported to be just 700. Newspaper articles spoke about the positive attitude of earthquake survivors. The mayor talked about rebuilding “larger, better, and soon”. By 1915, the city had risen from the ashes and hosted the Panama-Pacific International Exposition to showcase its full recovery. During the Expo’s nine-month run, 18.8 million visitors attended.

As happens today, “Christian” ministers used the devastation as proof of divine retribution to punish San Francisco for sin, debauchery, and low moral values. Some things never change. Down in the Jackson Square section of the city stood Hotaling’s whiskey warehouse which was the largest whiskey depository on the West Coast. At one point, troops planned to blow up the building, and the whiskey, to build a fire break. Cooler and smarter heads prevailed. U.S. Navy sailors ran hoses for a mile from Fisherman’s Wharf and around Telegraph Hill to bring a supply of saltwater to Hotaling’s. The whiskey was saved!

Charley Kelley, the editor of “Sunset Magazine” penned San Francisco’s famous and appropriate response:

If as they say, God sparked the town,

For being too frisky.

Why did he burn the churches down,

And save Hotaling’s whiskey?

 

The next HEAD Trip will explore the Great Earthquake and Fire with a focus on the Mission District. As is tradition, we will meet in a bar, Delirium – a place that puts the dive in dive bar. The glasses are clean. The drinks are strong. Bring hand sanitizer. Delirium is at 3139 16^th St., just a short walk from the 16^th/Mission BART Station.

After getting lubed, we’ll stroll over to Dolores Park. Along the way stopping at Bi-Rite Market to buy some sandwiches for a picnic in the park. After lunch, and a spot of dog/people watching, we’ll hike up to hill to gaze in awe at the Golden Hydrant, savior of the Mission District. Down the hill, with a stop for ice cream, we’ll find our way over to the Elixir, San Francisco’s second oldest bar! Enjoying our adult refreshments, we’ll share the “up from the ashes” story of this famous watering hole.

Let’s meet at noon on Saturday, May 6th at Delirium and take it from there!

Presidential HEAD Trip

San Francisco has long been a popular destination for U.S. Presidents. The first presidential visit to SF was in 1880 and since then every Chief Executive, except for two, have enjoyed Bagdad by the Bay while in office. That’s 25 presidents! Join the HEAD Society on Saturday, February 11 to explore this fascinating chapter of Bay Area history. 

At 2pm, we’ll meet at one of San Francisco’s smallest bars, Buddha Lounge (901 Grant Ave. @ Washington St.). This Chinatown dive is one of 34 Legacy Bars in San Francisco (along with Specs’ 12 Adler from the Devil’s Acre HEAD Trip). As we wait for our group to gather, enjoy one of the bar’s two specialties. One is, of course, Buddha Beer served in green Buddha-shaped bottles. The other is a Chinese Mai Tai. This drink was made famous down the street at the Li Po Lounge. Buddha Lounge adds its own secret ingredient, Three Penis Whiskey imported from China. It’s a cash only establishment. 

 If you’re taking BART into SF, get off at the Powell Street Station. Walk a short distance and get on the new Central Subway (follow the many signs). Muni’s newest line will take you up to Chinatown lickety split! The Chinatown Station is near the corner of Stockton & Washington Streets. Walk down Stockton St. and turn right on Washington. It’s a short downhill stroll to the Buddha Lounge. 

After we gather, and a little day drinking, we’ll be off to the Great Eastern Restaurant (649 Jackson St.) to feast on some Presidential dim sum as enjoyed by President Barack Obama on a chilly day in February 2015 (The Secret Service drove him directly there from the airport! He must have really been jonesing for those dumplings!).   

After a late lunch, we’ll saunter through Chinatown. Our next stop is just beyond the Dragon Gate, The Irish Bank. It’s a cozy, museum-like pub tucked down a short alley. As far as we know, no president ever drank here but it’s the perfect place to honor the 4 U.S. Presidents of Irish ancestry. We’ll even have our own Presidential Pub Quiz complete with prizes (drinks, of course). 

 Next stop, Union Square, where we’ll stand in the footsteps of Gerald Ford and his wannabe, but failed assassin, Sara Jane Moore. We’ll also admire the Dewey/U.S. Sailor monument. It has connections to 2 Presidents. 

 From Union Square, we’ll walk back to Market Street, past the Palace Hotel and over to House of Shields. It’s San Francisco’s 8th oldest bar and was once connected to the Palace Hotel through a secret underground tunnel. Ordinarily used to move women and whiskey, this tunnel was also possibly a conduit for relocation of the body of the 29th President. We’ll sip on well-crafted cocktails and discover the conspiracies and rumors dating back to 1923. Did the President die of a heart attack in his hotel room bed or in the arms of a beautiful woman (not his wife) upstairs at House of Shields? Some even say he was poisoned by his wife. Who knows? Maybe we do! 

 Please RSVP @ beerguy24@gmail.com.

The Devil’s Acre – Heart of the Barbary Coast

 Before the discovery of gold in 1849, San Francisco (or Yerba Buena as it was known until 1847) was a sleepy community. The Custom House was one of the few wood-framed structures. The Harbor Master’s Office sheltered under a canvas tent made from a ship’s sails. Centered around what is now Portsmouth Square, the rest of the “city” was a collection of tents, shanties, and adobe buildings along the edges of Yerba Buena Cove. Two and a half miles from the cove stood a Spanish-era mission. With a population of only a few hundred, San Francisco sat on the finest natural harbor on the West Coast. At one point, there were more pigs in the city than people.

Gold changed everything as the “world rushed in”. Hoards of fortune seekers made their way to California. San Francisco was now filled with thousands of young men, living in hotels, and loaded with money. They were looking for food, drink, gambling, camaraderie, and bawdy entertainment. Many early immigrants opened restaurants, especially the Chinese. Others opened gambling halls and saloons.

Hot on the heels of the 49ers, sex workers from around the world began to arrive. They were American, English, Chinese, German, Spanish and French. In 1850 alone, 2,000 women, mostly harlots, arrived. Perhaps the first to arrive were woman from Chile. American prejudices forced these Spanish-speaking immigrants to heddle together in a small district known as Little Chile. These pioneer prostitutes worked out of tents and crude wooden structures near Broadway and Pacific Street. The seeds of the Barbary Coast were sowed. The local newspaper described the area as “a bawdy, bustling, bedlam of mud holes and shanties”.

From humble, and carnal, beginnings the Barbary Coast was born. In the mid-1860, a visiting sailor stood up in a saloon and proclaimed, “Here’s to the Barbary Coast, where if the whiskey doesn’t knock you out, the harlots and hoodlums will.”

The name referred to the pirate-infested coast of North Africa and it stuck!

Between 1870 and through the 1890s, the Barbary Coast grew to encompass 40 square blocks. It was roughly boarded by the Embarcadero to the east, Grant Avenue on the west, Broadway to the north and Commercial Street to the south. It acquired a world-wide reputation as “the most naughty and dangerous district in America”.

In 1890, the area was home to 3,117 businesses licensed to sell “beer, whiskey, and other intoxicating beverages”. That was one saloon for every 96 San Franciscans (today in all of San Francisco it’s 1/700). Along with the legal establishments, there were at least 2,000 unlicensed “Blind Pigs”. During Prohibition, these would be known as speakeasies. “Drinking was such a fact of life that it was certainly considered no disgrace to frequent a saloon, which the entire male populace did without embarrassment.”

After drinking, gambling was seen as the principal diversion for the men of San Francisco, young and old alike. By 1860, there were 1,000 gambling halls open to fill the need. The Barbary Coast was an “orgy of wasteful and extravagant spending”. A newspaper editorial noticed that “the men of San Francisco who did not gamble were too few to be noticed.” It was well known that “San Francisco’s politics had never suffered from undue concern with honesty.”

Respectful elements of local society were content to ignore the crime, gambling, brothels and drinking establishments. This “ulcer of depravity” had become “a world-famous theme park of sin” which judges, lawyers, government officials, clergymen, and the city’s middle class visited on a regular basis. “Civic virtue was as rare as a snowstorm.”

At the heart of the Barbary Coast was a little triangle of the city where Columbus Avenue intersects with Broadway, Kearny Street and Pacific Avenue. It’s wicked and wild. It’s the Devil’s Triangle. This “bubbling cauldron of sin” had the highest concentration of dancehalls, deadfalls (beer & wine dens), gambling halls, melodeons (saloons with burlesque shows), and brothels. It was vicious, depraved, and glamorous all at once. Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actor of the late 19th century called it, “the most fascinatingly wicked place on earth.”

Everyone was welcome and they flocked to this “seductive siren”. Along Kearney Street alone you could find Hell’s Kitchen, Cock o’ the Walk, the Dew Drop Inn and many other colorfully named watering holes. One of the most famous saloons was the Bull Run. Its motto was “anything goes here”. Being at the center of a “wild sirocco of sin”, one can only imagine what was included in “everything”.

The Devil’s Acre is also considered ground zero for the cocktail culture in America. In a city built on gold and drink, what better way to pass the time than with a bright, bitter, and boozy creation? Yes, bitter. Bitter over sweet was seen as a sign of affluence. Enjoying delicious, intoxicating beverages is at the core of the human experience. Sharing a drink builds community and group solidarity.

Mixing cocktails grew out of a bartender’s need to create a drink that tasted like whiskey without using much whiskey. A way to cheat customers bloomed into the creation of the mojito, the world’s first cocktail. Other famous local creations include Pisco Punch, the Sazerac. Not the Martini, but that’s another HEAD Trip.

The Gold Rush, Barbary Coast and Devil’s Acre helped San Francisco earn its place among the world’s six great cocktail cities (London, Havana, New York, Paris, New Orleans & SF). As you sip your drink in Baghdad by the Bay, you’re tasting California history.

Cheers!

 

 We're back!

The pandemic and Trump's presidency took their toll on many things; democracy, science, and the HEAD Society. HEAD Trips and HEAD Rushes, except for a SantaCon or two, all fell victim to Shelter-in-Place. The light at the end of the tunnel is no longer a train heading our way. HEAD is back baby, vaccinated and boosted AF. No more Zoom meetings or Teams calls, it's time for real adventures.

For those of you new to such things, the HEAD Society (Historical Eating and Drinking Society) is an informal band of merry explorers who are dedicated to the lifelong quest for historical foods, good drink, friendship, and the hunt for tasty knowledge. 

Our first post-COVID excursion is planned for Saturday, November 5, 2022. Mark your calendars now, in ink! We'll be exploring San Francisco's storied Devil's Acre. This amazing triangle was once the wildest single block in the world and the epicenter of the old Barbary Coast.

Great cocktails are a much a part of San Francisco as cable cars and Carl the Fog. Some say cocktail culture was born in the City. If San Francisco is the birthplace, the Devil's Acre is the fallopian tube.

Details to follow.

MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL – AMERICA’S HOMETOWN GAME

The history of Minor League Baseball goes back to September 5, 1901, when the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues was formed. Today we know them as Minor League Baseball. It all started with 14 leagues and 96 clubs. By 1909, things had grown to 35 leagues and 246 clubs.

The Minors really began to flourish during the Great Depression when the teams got their “farm team” nickname. It started as a joke passed around by major league players when St. Louis Cardinals general manager Branch Rickey formalized the system, and said these small town teams were "growing players down on the farm like corn."

Minor League Baseball is a place to develop talent and prepare players for the majors, “the Show”, MLB. Today, 19 affiliated minor baseball leagues operate with 244 member clubs in large, medium, and small cities, as well as the suburbs across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Several more independent leagues operate in the United States and Canada.

Minor League teams are usually independently owned and operated but are directly affiliated with one of the major league teams. Today’s farm system has a complex set of layers that take young, raw talent and get it “Big League” ready.

Triple-A

This classification currently includes two affiliated leagues: the International League and the Pacific Coast League. The Mexican League is also classified as a Triple-A league, though its clubs are not affiliated with MLB clubs.

Double-A

There are currently three leagues in this classification: Eastern League, Southern League and the Texas League,

 

Class A-Advanced

One level below Double-A, the California League, Carolina League and the Florida State League play at the Class A-Advanced level. 

Class A

Slightly below Class A-Advanced are the full (140 game) season Class-A leagues.

Class A Short Season

Class A Short Season, despite sharing the "Class A" designation, is, in fact, a separate classification from Class A. Short season leagues, as the name implies, play a shortened season of 76 games, starting in mid-June and ending in early September.

Rookie Advanced

The players in these leagues are thought to be further along in their development than players in the pure Rookie leagues, and hence games are more competitive.

Rookie

Leagues in the Rookie classification play a shortened season, similar to, but slightly shorter than, the short season leagues, starting in mid-June and ending in late August or early September. This is the lowest level of minor league baseball.  

SF GIANTS FARM SYSTEM

AAA	AA	Advanced A	A	Short Season A	Rookie
Sacramento River Cats	Richmond Flying Squirrels	San Jose Giants	Augusta Green Jackets	Salem-Keizer Volcanoes	Arizona Giants

OAKLAND A’S FARM SYSTEM

Triple-A	Double-A	Advanced A	A	Short-Season A	Rookie
Nashville Sounds	Midland Rock Hounds	Stockton Ports	Beloit Snappers	Vermont Lake Monsters	AZL Athletics

The San Jose Giants’ mission is to "provide fun, affordable, family entertainment to our community, while continually striving for unprecedented success on and off the field. The organization is dedicated to creating an environment where players can develop their baseball skills and learn the humble art of giving back and becoming a Giant. The San Jose Giants welcome every fan and take pride in maintaining our cherished home, Municipal Stadium, as a community gathering place since 1942."

 Minor League teams have some of the best names in sport. Wouldn't you like to root for the El Paso Chihuahuas, Carolina Mudcats, Hartford Yard Goats or the Las Vegas 51s (as in Area 51). There really are Toledo Mud Hens of M*A*S*H fame. A few other favorites include the Lansing Lugnuts, Hillsboro Hops (yes, those hops) and Homer Simpson's fav Albuquerque Isotopes.

SAN JOSE GIANTS FUN FACTS

·         The San Jose Giants are in the Class A Advanced California League. The team has been affiliated with the San Francisco Giants since 1988 and has boasted one of the best records in the minor leagues after partnering with the big league club, going 2,098-1,673 (.556). The San Jose Giants have played in historic Municipal Stadium for over 70 years.  San Jose has won six California League Championships as a Giants affiliate and eleven overall (2010, 2009, 2007, 2005, 2001, 1998, 1979, 1967, 1962, 1953 and 1949). In 27 seasons, the San Jose Giants have graduated 173 Major League players, 125 of whom have played or currently play for the San Francisco Giants. 16 former San Jose Giants took part in the 2014 World Champion San Francisco Giants playoff run.

·          Since 1988, the San Jose Giants have entertained over 4 million fans. 

·         The San Jose Giants have extensive partnerships with local schools, youth sports organizations and non-profits. More than $300,000 is raised annually for South Bay organizations.   

·         Current Giants Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Trevor Brown, Joe Panik, Matt Duffy, Jarrett Parker, Mac Williamson, Matt Cain, Sergio Romo, Derek Law, Josh Osich, Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford all once played for San Jose. Tim Lincecum too!

.

CALIFORNIA LEAGUE TEAMS

Team	MLB Affiliation	City
Bakersfield Blaze	Seattle Mariners	Bakersfield
Modesto Nuts	Colorado Rockies	Modesto
San Jose Giants	San Francisco Giants	San Jose
Stockton Ports	Oakland Athletics	Stockton
Visalia Rawhide	Arizona Diamondbacks	Visalia
High Desert Mavericks	Texas Rangers	Adelanto
Inland Empire 66ers	Los Angeles Angels	San Bernardino
Lake Elsinore Storm	San Diego Padres	Lake Elsinore
Lancaster Jet Hawks	Houston Astros	Lancaster
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes	Los Angeles Dodgers	Rancho Cucamonga

Tiki Bar After-Action Report

A restful day off has allowed me to regroup and reflect on one of the most monumental, extraordinary and rum-infused adventures to date.

Twelve HEAD Society members from all across the East Bay converged on the cable car stop at the end of California Street. Our goal, no mission, was to explore the Bay Area’s Tiki Bar history. 

A few minutes after our arrival, we clambered aboard the cable car which took

 us up to the top of Nob Hill. For the most part, it was a free ride. Our very nice conductor only asked to see our Clipper Cards. Obviously he recognized us as members of an esteemed society and granted us one of the many perks that HEAD Society membership has to offer.

Soon we found ourselves waiting in line for the Tonga Room to open.

Two more members joined us in line and we took the opportunity to formally induct seven new members (Jen C. #77, Tamara #78, Ray #79, Dave #80, Lee #81, Eddie #82 & Joey #83). We also rectified an error from earlier trip by presenting longtime member Becky with her coveted membership card.

 At 5 o’clock sharp the doors swung open and we sauntered into the Tonga Room. Not only is this place the oldest Tiki Bar in America but that the decor is classic Tiki, Old School Tiki. In fact, the Fairmont Hotel hired a Hollywood set designer to decorate the place.

Our first order of business was to order food - 3 Royal “PuPu” Platters. Our mouths were watering and our stomachs were growling as we waited for the barbecue Kona pork ribs, shiitake eggrolls, spicy chicken wings and Dungeness crab Rangoon. We were ordering drinks as our 15^th member arrived, Vivian (#59). Rum bowls seemed to be the order of the day. There were Scorpion Bowls, Golden Punch Bowls (Golden Punch = rum) and Lava Bowls. A collection of Mai Tais, Singapore Slings and Red Strike beers rounded out our order.

The Scorpion Bowl traces its roots back to Honolulu in the 1930s. Imagine how good a mixture of spiced and dark rum, brandy, fresh orange & lime juices taste as you suck it through a 24 inch long straw. The Lava Bowl claims to be the Nectar of the Gods. I guess that’s possible when you combine dark rum and overproof rum with fresh lemon and pineapple juice. A Golden Punch Bowl blends white rum, yellow chartreuse with fresh lemon juice, honey, ginger & bitters. We were off to a good start.

“PuPu” Platters ravaged, rum bowls drained, it was time to head downhill and find Smuggler’s Cove. A few members decided to walk while the rest of us opted for cab rides. Smuggler’s Cove was packed but we worked our way up to the bar. The advance guard started with a round of Painkiller #3. It’s a traditional drink of the Caribbean with Pusser’s rum, pineapple, orange, coconut and nutmeg. Yum! There are multiple Painkillers available (#2, #3 & #4). We didn’t notice the little barrel symbol on the menu next to #3 & #4. Turns out the little barrel means “Very Strong”. Oh well, it was still yum!

It took a while for all of the group to wander in. A few got stuck outside behind the velvet rope for a while. Obviously the bouncer didn’t recognize them as HEAD Society members. We fanned out across the place - some of us found a spot at the main bar, others decended down into the “hold”. There’s a bar down there too. Everyone scoured the 70+ drink menu and cocktail orders were flying – The Black Prince, Hibiscus Punch, Port Au Prince, Navy Grog, El Presidente, Cuba Libre, Puka Punch and the Suffering Bastard were just a few. Honestly, I tasted so many drinks that I lost track.

We took over the “crow’s nest” and enjoyed conversation, rum history and our cocktails. I tell you, the bartenders here work like dogs churning out drink after drink. The skill on display is amazing. These cocktails are alcoholic works of art. It’s mixology taken to the highest level.

While the Tonga Room had history and longevity, Smuggler’s Cove won the HEAD Society’s newly-created “best cocktail” award. We could have stayed there longer, even with the heat. It was hot in there. I’m guessing all the bodies packed inside had something to do with it.

We started the night with 15. Smuggler’s Cove had 14 of us. By the time we reached the Bamboo Hut we were down to a hearty group of 12. Arriving on Broadway, half our group, led by Jenn (#11), went across the street for slices of pizza. The rest of us took over a booth in San Francisco’s best Tiki (Dive) Bar. Joan (#5) found some plates of beans, rice and jerk chicken at the restaurant next store. Hunger satisfied we were free to resume our rum exploration.

I started by sharing a Strawberry Bowl. Imagine a giant bowl filled with a fruit slushie spiked with three kinds of rum. The bartender even filled the little “volcano” in the middle of the bowl with 151 rum before lighting it on fire. 

Televisions at both ends of the bar showed Cal beating Texas Tech. That’s for you Dave (#80). The drinks here were not nearly as artfully crafted but the Bamboo Hut wins the award for friendliest patrons. It was so easy to strike up a conversation. Jim (#71) was especially good at mingling.

Tired, happy and rum soaked, we stumbled our way down Columbus to Montgomery to BART and

home. Another successful HEAD Trip in the books.

Random observation: not everyone on BART enjoyed the singing of songs from “My Fair Lady”. I guess it takes all kinds.

Color Commentary…

Tiki Hangover………………..Day 2……….I think I will survive..............................…

I learned some things about myself and alcohol, most specifically rum, on this outing.

1) Rum is evil. It gets mixed with delicious, delicious juices so you can’t taste it and it seems        refreshing.

2)  It is not refreshing.

3) Drinks should only be served in teeny, tiny glasses, NEVER bowls with two foot long straws.

4) Two foot long straws are bad because they can reach all the other bowls in addition to your own  bowl.

  I have the best friends in the world. I have thanked and apologized too many of them and all of the rest of them should accept this as my thanks and apology for getting me onto BART on Saturday.

Next HEAD trip – donuts, coffee, nothing containing alcohol!!!